Waypoint Creation and Modification Date and Symbol

Former Member over 9 years ago

I am using Basecamp 4.6.2 with Windows 10. After transferring 580 waypoints from Basecamp to my Nuvi 2598, I took a trip and added three new waypoints. Then I connected the Nuvi to my computer and opened Basecamp. All 583 waypoints have the same creation and modification date listed in Basecamp; namely the current computer date and time. Therefore a time sort to find the three new waypoints is useless. The "Date Created" and "Date Modified" columns are meaningless.

The waypoint symbol is also a problem. Any waypoint copied from Basecamp to the Nuvi and then back to basecamp from the Nuvi has its symbol changed in Basecamp.

In other words, Garmin software (Basecamp) and hardware (Nuvi 2598 and also my Oregon 450t) handle waypoint dates and symbols very poorly. Basecamp and its predecessor Mapsource have lots of nice features. But the lack of coordination between Garmin hardware and software is a serious problem that Garmin should quickly addresses.

0 Former Member over 9 years ago

As a Driver, my use of the Garmin Nuvi 55 or later device routing is by listening to audible text to speech of names, streets and turn directions only, unless I happen to be a passenger. As a passenger/navigator I may scroll through the Directions to look ahead on the route and provide my own audio suggestions to the driver. It never occurred to me that the flags and other graphic symbols in the route were a problem. (I never got the hang of the Nuvi 255, and my customary passenger never could get it out of Demo mode).

However, I just now tried changing some Nuvi 56 "waypoint" symbols and found that the symbol changes that actually worked did not take effect until I rebooted and otherwise performed multiple Saves of the internal data on the current.gpx file.

Note: I did not have a consistently solid satellite lock indoors while playing around, nor had I disabled the satellite search for indoor use.

0 das1996 over 9 years ago

The engineer in me has to know everything at all times :). On a serious note, I come from using various nuvi's on a motorcycle. Piping sound into my helmet was too distracting, be it music or directions. I instead used earplugs to cut the noise down. So I got used to using a gps visually only. My older 14xx (which still supports Routes instead of trip planner) does display the icons correctly - so why can't a current model too....

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

@RoadRoach58, current.gpx gets regenerated each time the device is connected to the computer.

Umm, actually, current.gpx gets generated every time the unit is turned on and synchronizes with the satellites. The file gets closed and released when the unit is in MTP or USB mode. There is another file (the name escapes me at the moment) that has nothing but the current GPS coordinates in it, that also gets written to the Current.GPX file when the receivers are active. When you connect to the PC and put it in MTP mode, or USB mode, it no longer updates current position.

Not everything I do with the unit is Automotive Point A to Point B. I may decide to use it for bicycling, or geocaching. I can usually find some get-arounds to make this happen, but it sure isn't easy on this unit. Nothing I do with the unit is aeronautical. I'm sure as hell not jumping out of an airplane that isn't on fire and falling. Nothing I do with the unit is Marine/Nautical, so a Man Overboard function is a wee bit useless on the interstate. So why shouldn't I be able to repurpose things I don't use to be something I DO use? Or select/configure the unit when I register it? I'm not likely to go out and buy an airplane or submarine anytime soon. I fail to understand why Garmin cannot see that both of those applications have specialized needs that will NEVER be used by a car or motorcycle. And vice versa.

My main point is that Garmin has nearly killed any flexibility in the Nuvi series. Not a good marketing choice, IMHO. I'll be hard pressed to buy another Garmin device.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

I think you will find that das1996 is correct about the generation of the current.gpx file. The delay after you connect the device to a computer is caused by the device creating the current,gpx file from the data held in internal memory. In some devices, you could chose to skip this step and the file was not created.

Some of the earlier devices were very configurable, but this probably caused giant problems for the Garmin support staff. I think it is a step in the right direction to produce a variety of different devices which perform a specific function, with minimal configuration required. I use a bike device (Zumo) on my motorcycle and an auto device (Nuvi) in my car. If I had a truck, a boat or a plane I would purchase a device suited to that environment.